The Unwritten Chapters of the Rest of My Life
by KrakenGirl xxx
Summary: Percy Jackson life was anything but dull and nobody expected him to settle down. But when the perfect girl came along, there was only one question he had to ask. And it didn't take an oracle to find the answer... The chapters Rick Riordan never wrote. xxx
1. On the road

**Chapter 1 – On the road**

As far as anyone from work knew, I was taking part in a three-month research project on the Sand Tiger sharks in Long Island Sound. As far as I knew, the only marine life in _our_ bay was sea monsters but I figured I could make something up the night before I had to go back to work. I'm pretty good at "working out" most things to do with water/fish/amphibians/marine mammals. I guess it's hereditary.

Annabeth was basically a free agent – she was heading the New York sector of a London-based architecture and landscaping company. They had practically _begged_ her to join and couldn't refuse her all summers off forever in exchange for her ingenious visionary talents. This meant we had the entire summer to ourselves...

And I was pretty sure I knew what to do with it.

"Aren't you excited? My gods, I can't believe it's been a year. Can you believe it's been a whole year? And last year was so extreme right after we graduated. Can you believe we are now working adults? Can you believe we even made it to adulthood? We must be the luckiest half-bloods in the world...."

Annabeth's mouth carried on going at a faster mile per hour than the car. It made me happy to see her so excited again and to be honest I was crazy excited too. I really _couldn't_ believe it had been a whole year or that we were working adults or that we had made it to adulthood. I should technically have died seven years and nine months ago. But here I was aged twenty-three, in my fancy new car, on the Long Island expressway, next to my insanely gorgeous albeit wound-up girlfriend on my way to the best place on Earth. And just when I thought my life couldn't get any more fantastic, I remembered the padded blue box in the front pocket of my suitcase and grinned wider than the Pacific Ocean.

"Take the left exit here and for gods' sakes, Annabeth, calm down! Seriously, put both hands on the steering wheel or we're swapping seats and I'm driving!" I said, laughing as she jiggled impatiently in her seat.

"I'm sorry it's just... I've missed camp so much! I mean, except for Chiron, who have you missed most from camp? For me it's definitely Daisy or Juniper. Probably Daisy because I love Juniper but, well, she's a tree, you know? And trees are really not that deep except Thalia, of course, my gods, Thalia! I really wish she could be there, but she's probably off trying to slay some monsters. Or men. But the difference isn't all that great so..."

I whacked her on the head with my map and immediately regretted it. "Annabeth, steering wheel, two hands!" I shouted, fearing for our lives and my car.

"Relax, Seaweed Brain. I want the satisfaction of your death in the arena later; I'm not going to kill you now."

"Ha ha," I said sarcastically, "You know you can't beat me at anything but a pop quiz, Wise Girl."

"Oh yeah," she replied, rolling her eyes, "Stupid invincibility!" She leaned in and kissed me on the end of my nose making me temporarily forget my surroundings. Not for long though.

"Annabeth! Eyes on the road!"

She rolled her eyes again. "We're basically there anyway, Seaweed Brain" she insisted "_Relax!" _

I spent the rest of the car ride watching the sunlight glance off her golden hair and wondering how my life got quite so fantastic.


	2. Thoughts and questions

**Chapter 2 – Thoughts and questions**

All afternoon we greeted friends (and fans) and caught up with their lives the past year. Annabeth and Daisy, daughter of Aphrodite, were virtually joined at the hip. At some point reddish brown hair merged into blonde but other than that they could have been some stunning, over-excitable, two-headed camp councillor. And of course we were tackled by Grover, the best half-barnyard animal to ever trot the Earth, and my dear cousin Nico who had grown about a foot and a half into something now resembling a nineteen-year-old. Was he really that old? Time flies when you're not counting the years until you either save or destroy Western civilisation.

Speaking of prophecies, I was disappointed to find out Rachel was on a six month skiing program in the Swiss Alps. I hoped she'd fly out when she heard our news, but seeing as the gods, Dr. and Mrs. Chase and my mom and Paul were the only ones who knew so far, I didn't think it was likely.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the death promised by Annabeth in the car. She was far too busy helping Chiron, teaching a beginners Greek class and getting stalked by a group of small wannabe-heroes. One of them turned out to be her half-sister, Noah, who had been claimed a week before we arrived, was six years old and only spoke French. Annabeth fell in love with her instantly and held her on her hip the whole time I was thrashing Will Solace at sword-fighting. It had never occurred to me before that Annabeth would make a good mom. Sure she was great with my half-sister Emilia, calling her nicknames and playing silly seven-year-old games. But I'd always thought it was for my sake. I could just imagine her rolling her eyes and saying "Well somebody has a big sense of their own self-importance!"

After dinner, everyone made their way down to the campfire for a sing-along. I told Annabeth to meet me there and ran back to our basement room in the big house. _This is it_, I thought, _the biggest decision of my entire life. No pressure, but you have got to get this right._ Thanks brain, now I'm really calm, I thought. _Am I going to do this now?_ I thought.

In that split second I grabbed the blue box from the front pocket of my suitcase and ran out the door. _I am going to do this..._

_Now._


	3. One very big question

_A.N. – Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! All the reviews were really nice and I promise to make the next chapter longer. I should probably formally introduce Daisy de Buretel, daughter of Aphrodite. She and Annabeth became really close after Silena died and now they're best friends at camp. Also Aura is a daughter of Zeus and is **AnnabethChase5450**'s character whom I borrowed (with permission). Sorry if this chapter gets a bit SongFic-y but I just thought this was a romantic idea. Lots of love,  
__KrakenGirl xxx_

_(P.S. I do not own 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' or 'Sparkle and Shine' but I **highly** recommend listening to it.)_

**Chapter 3 – One very big question**

I made my way to the campfire (I couldn't believe I still knew how to get there) and sat down at the front near Annabeth.

"Marshmallow?" she asked, not really waiting for a reply before shoving a molten goo ball in my mouth. I must have looked just as confused and sticky as I felt because she collapsed in giggles at the look on my face. Her laugh was infectious and I soon found I was trying to laugh through a wad of marshmallow. This was apparently even funnier and pretty soon Annabeth was clutching her stomach and rolling around on the log we were sitting on. "Such... a... Seaweed... Brain!" she choked between giggles.

Eventually it subsided though, and we managed to catch the end of 'I'm My Own Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandpa'. We all cheered at the end and then Will from the Apollo cabin held up his guitar. "Anyone else wanna play?" he asked. I felt a dull poke in my back and my eyes followed the line of Annabeth's finger. I realised she was pointing at... Nico! He was way up on the top decks snuggling up to Aura, daughter of Zeus. Her electric blue eyes and his dark brown were alight with something I recognised instantly. Well good for Nico. He deserved to be in Love.

"I'll play," I volunteered. Annabeth looked distinctly worried. "Don't worry; I do know one or two songs. They're not exactly camp-related, though. Is that alright?" I asked either Will or Chiron. They both nodded so I took a deep breath and started the intro.

"Um... this song is called 'Sparkle and Shine' by Steve Earle. It's the first song I learnt to play so... I hope you like it.

_My baby sparkle and shine,  
__Sparkle and shine, sparkle and shine.  
__My baby sparkle and shine  
__And everyone knows she's fine._

_She blesses all that she sees,  
__A toss of her hair and a kiss in the breeze,  
__But she don't love no one but me  
__And I can't believe she's mine._

_Shimmering she moves,  
__Sunlight all around her.  
__Even when she's blue  
__Silver clouds surround her._

_My baby sparkle and shine,  
__Sparkle and shine, sparkle and shine.  
__My baby sparkle and shine  
__And I can't believe she's mine._

_My baby swings down the street,  
__Big tall high heel shoes on her feet.  
__Walks by and my heart skips a beat  
__And I`m stumblin' like a fool._

_She give me somethin' so sweet  
__I can't sleep and I can't eat.  
__Sparks fly whenever we meet;  
__I'm breathless 'cause she's so cool._

_Anywhere she goes  
__I can only follow.  
__She'll be there, I know,  
__When I awake tomorrow.  
__  
__My baby sparkle and shine,  
__Sparkle and shine, sparkle and shine.  
__My baby sparkle and shine  
__And everyone knows she's fine.  
__  
__My baby sparkle and shine,  
__Sparkle and shine, sparkle and shine.  
__My baby sparkle and shine_

_And everyone knows she's fine._"

The whole time I sung I watched Annabeth, my baby, as the tears rolled down her face. I knew they were happy tears, though, and I only wiped them off once I'd finished singing. Then she grabbed me by the collar and pulled me in so close I could see the dew on her eyelashes and for a few breathless moments we kissed. The rest of the camp cheered raucously, but quickly hushed in one mass gasp as I swung in front of Annabeth and got down on one knee.

"Annabeth Chase, I have known you over half my life and every moment with you is breathtaking. And if I don't breathe again for the rest of my life, I swear I shall never complain. All I want is to be with you, near you, holding you, anything! I want you to be there, rolling your eyes and calling me Seaweed Brain for all eternity. So, Annabeth Chase," I pulled the box from my pocket and opened it to expose the ring, "Will you marry me?" Two hundred eyes swivelled to Annabeth as she placed her left hand in mine, and I heard the answer I'd always longed to hear.

"Yes".


	4. Good morning starshine!

**Chapter 4 – Good morning starshine!**

"Get up, lovebirds!" yelled Daisy, yanking the covers off our bed with apparently too much topspin. Annabeth went flying off the bed with an indignant "Woah!"

"Five more minutes," I grumbled. Daisy grabbed Annabeth's copy of 'Jane Eyre' off the bedside table and started smacking me in the top of my head. I figured wielding a hairdryer took more upper-body power than anyone had thought because it hurt a lot more than it should have.

"Get..."

"OW!"

"...up..."

"OW!"

"...you..."

"OW!"

"...lazy..."

"OW!"

"...retard!" Thank the gods Annabeth chose then to recover her precious book and check it over for damage. My head was probably craterous by now, but at least Jane was OK. Daisy blew un-plaited strand of hair out of her face and crossed her arms over her chest.

"We're having a war/wedding council in ten minutes in the rec. room. If you're not there, I'm getting married" she announced.

"Can we at least stop for breakfast?" I asked, deftly catching the striped shirt Annabeth threw me.

"No time. I'll get you a croissant. Hurry up. Nice boxers, by the way" she said, smirking and sauntering out the door. Continuing to change, I grinned over at Annabeth.

"You'll be ironing these boxers for all time, Mrs. Seaweed Brain! Are you nervous? _Scared_?"

"I've single-handedly destroyed entire packs of hellhounds and turned the fearsomest furies to flour sacks. Lime green boxers are cute at best," she retorted, swinging her long blonde hair up into a messy ponytail and throwing on an oversized hoodie. "Come on," she said, grinning slyly, "let's go stare at dessert-coloured taffeta swatches!" I groaned, but I wasn't really mad. As I let her pull me to my almost certain doom-by-taffeta, I couldn't help smiling. What did it matter what brand the potpourri was?

I was marrying the girl of my dreams.

~*~

I whistled happily, swinging my arms as I walked back to the big house. Apparently no one expected me to concentrate during these things and Daisy and her gorgeous groupies accepted my confused and listless nodding as 'normal guy behaviour'. Annabeth had gone on ahead to IM Thalia and ask if she would be maid of honour.

I entered our room so quietly Annabeth didn't hear me. She appeared to be mid-conversation with Thalia's floating head. From Thalia's guilty frown and Annabeth's stiff posture, I gathered her reaction had been lukewarm.

"He could be the greatest guy on Earth, Annabeth. Heck, he probably is! It doesn't change how I feel about marriage. I am fairly certain you are wasting your life and wasting your time".

"So you're not coming?" she asked, deep hurt in her voice and eyes. Thalia sighed.

"Psycho Barbie probably invited all the Gods, right? My Lady sometimes brings us to these things (you know, weddings) to remind us of what we stand for. We're basically the anti-Hera squad. Maybe... I don't know, maybe I could recommend this as a particular waste of maidenhood or something. And I guess if I was in the ceremony... you know... it wouldn't be _so_ disgraceful" said Thalia.

"Thank you," smiled Annabeth, though she was crying for real now. "You really don't know how much this means to me. You'll need to come a couple of days before for fittings, OK? I love you, Thals".

"Love you too baby," said Thalia, nodding. She looked up at me and I realised she must have known I was there the whole time. "You take good care of my baby!" And with that, she sliced through the image and broke the connection.

I stepped forward to Annabeth and she nestled her head into my shoulder, trying to staunch the steady flow of tears.

"I just... thought..." she sobbed "she'd be more... supportive..."

"Shhh," I whispered, holding her round the waist and swaying her from side to side "it's OK. I'll take good care of you. My baby.

_My baby sparkle and shine,  
__Sparkle and shine, sparkle and shine.  
__My baby sparkle and shine  
__And I can't believe she's mine._"


	5. Without a doubt

_A.N. - Hello everyone wonderful! Sorry it took so long, I have been in a state of depression because my best friend is moving to New Mexico. This does not sound that bad but I actually live in London so it is basically... depressing. Please enjoy the next chapter (you don't have to but since you're reading it I thought you might as well). Sorry if it has grammar issues but I do not understand what a beta reader is/does/how you use one. Also sorry if you don't like it but if you don't please be as detailed as possible about what is wrong with it so I can fix it and make everyone happy. With oodles of poodles,  
KrakenGirl xxx_

**Chapter 5 - Without a doubt**

I knocked softly on the door of the Aphrodite cabin then shoved my hand back deep into my pocket. I didn't know if it was the suit or just being around the self-professed 'Cabin of the Perfects' but I started to feel like a huge idiot. It could also be because I was getting married this afternoon, but whatever. A very stressed-out Thalia answered the door.

"What?" she shouted. "Oh. It's you, Dumb-ass." Was that my name? I don't think so. She carried on anyway: "You know, you're really not supposed to be here. Daisy will probably eat you."

"Who wy gowwa ea'?" I hear from inside. Thalia opened the door a little wider to reveal Daisy, mouth full of pins, hemming a bored-looking Katie Gardener's bridesmaid dress. The dresses were Grecian-style, a different colour for each bridesmaid and flower girl: yellow for Thalia, macaroni for Katie, bubblegum pink for Daisy and orange and fuchsia for Emilia and Noah. They were pretty nice and I could see why Daisy was so concerned with getting Katie's perfect but she did look up eventually and notice me standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Oh hi, Duwaff. Wha' oo oo wa'?" I was fairly concerned about this new nickname but reminded myself of my original goals in coming here

"Um, hi Diz. I was sort of wondering if I could borrow Noah and Annabeth. Emilia wants to meet her fellow flower girl before the Big Show and I need a translator" I explained.

Now finished pinning, Daisy was better fit to reply "Alright. I'll pretend that's why you need Annabeth if you promise to have her back in _ten minutes_. Any more than that and I'm suing you". I probably would have said something really smart back like "yeah, right" when the most stunning woman in the universe rolled out of the bathroom in a strapless bra and a pair of my boxer shorts.

"Are you aware that your toilet water is pink?" she asked, pulling Noah out from behind her. "Oh, um... hi Percy," she said, smiling nervously and flicking her fingers like she was uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"Uh... Emilia's here," I said, quickly regaining the ability to speak English and breathe, "and she wants to meet Noah..."

"Oh yes!" she replied and threw on a hoodie before grabbing Noah's hand. "Venez avec moi! Nous allons voir la soeur de Percy - les autres fleurs fille?"

"Ah, bon!" replied Noah and skipped off in rapture, dragging Annabeth behind who quickly grabbed me, squeezing my hand a little harder than felt right, and together we ran up the hill.

So the meeting went fine, thanks for asking. Emilia and Noah got on like a house on fire. As Annabeth and I strolled back down to her cabin (fifteen minutes late and not caring at all), I looked back to see them playing Top Trumps in the back of Paul's Prius while mom fussed with her hat and flapped a lot. I did not resent Paul one bit for being my stepfather. I know Annabeth's dad did not have the same great taste as my mother but I considered myself lucky: he made her happy, and she deserved that.

Happiness was pretty much on my mind right then. Probably because this insanely gorgeous woman was walking beside me in _my _boxers and hoodie and we were going to get married. I figure when you've been dating for eight years and the novelty still hasn't worn off and every time you look into her eyes you get butterflies all over again, _that_, my friend, is True Love.

I glanced over at Annabeth, just to be sure this wasn't the best dream ever, and was suddenly worried. She was flicking her fingers agitatedly and her lips were pursed. This was the happiest day of our lives so why did she look so determinedly... unhappy? I stopped her, putting one hand on each shoulder so we came face to face.

"Annabeth, are you... OK?" I asked. It wasn't that she looked out of the ordinary. To the casual observer, that is. To the formal boyfriend-cum-fiancé, she was having a mass panic attack.

The past few weeks had been messy at best but we coped pretty well. Annabeth's job was to go to all the fittings, the councils, the tastings. She agreed to colour schemes (pink, yellow and orange), flower arrangements (lilies, roses and carnations), fabrics I didn't know _existed_ (and I'm not exactly an expert but chiffon? Elastane? _Really?_) And of course she hated every minute of it and came back to our room at night ranting about how she was "losing her fricking mind" and "can't do this anymore". And of course I would hold her hand and stroke her hair and tell her "everything will be alright". Because that was my job.

Now she looked pretty pale, her lips standing out a brilliant pink against her skin. She brushed a loose strand of hair back into her hood and crossed her arms, avoiding my gaze.

"I just... want to know... do you think we're doing the right thing?" I felt sort of like I was drowning and exploding at the same time.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I don't know I just thought... I mean, I wanted confirmation that..." Annabeth gave a heaving sigh and finally met my gaze. "You _know_ I think this whole wedding thing is bogus. But the marriage I'm fine with. I just keep thinking... are we rushing into things?"

I had to fight hard not to get angry with her. All this time and she chooses two hours before the wedding to freak. "We have gone out for eight years. We have been 'of marriageable age' for five years. You may feel out of your depth now but it is by no means because we are rushing".

"Well then..." she looked away from me again, as if trying to pretend she wasn't saying any of this and said "maybe I am out of my depth. But you know... we've barely... _established_ ourselves in the world. I always thought I would have... sorted everything out. By the time we got married, I mean. But all that went out the window when you asked me because I was just so ready to pledge the rest of my life to you. And now..."

I tilted her chin up to look in her eyes and was shocked by the intense fear lurking there. I finally understood that this wasn't just your average case of cold feet. She was honestly wondering whether she could go ahead with this.

"I love you—" I began.

"I love you too! I just—"

"Shh, let me finish. I love every single thing about you. I love that... you keep your eyes closed a full ten minutes after you wake up, just thinking about the day ahead. I love that your hair smells like butter cream even though you are a very bad cook. I _love_ that you are a very bad cook! But most of all I love your ambition, and your passion to be the most high-scoring ground-breaking reach-for-the-stars version of Annabeth you can possibly be. And I would _never_ forgive myself if getting married stood in the way of that happening. I would call this whole thing off in a heartbeat for you to do exactly what you want however you want to do it. Is that what you want me to do?"

I could hear the blood pounding in my ears and I knew that everything I had just said was true. That all I really cared about was Annabeth's happiness whatever shape or form.

"No."

"No?"

"You _know_ me. You_ know _how much I want to shoot down the stars and all that jazz. You know how much I love that but I know somewhere... that I will love it a thousand times more as Mrs. Annabeth Jackson. I just have to keep reminding myself that. And that I am insanely lucky to be so very blessed. And that I love you."

And with that she reached her head up and drew in and we kissed. And I was reminded of how deeply in love I was, and how insane and lucky and blessed we were. Insane, lucky, blessed, happy and deeply in love.

"There you are!" screeched Daisy, puffing up Half-Blood Hill wearing a walkie-talkie headset and stomping indignantly. "T minus one-thirteen and counting, people! Annabeth, get back to the cabin _now_, tell Katie we're going with the Manolo Blahniks and MAC lipstick in dubonnet. Percy... where are you supposed to be?" she asked giving me her best 'I don't have time for this' glare.

"Um... my cabin?"

"Well then," she explained, like she was talking to a two-year-old, "why are you still here?" Choosing to ignore her, I grabbed Annabeth for a quick hug and kissed the top of her head.

"Got any plans tonight?" I asked, coyly.

"Sorry," she replied, smiling in that beautiful way that makes your heart kind of spasm and then turn to pulp, "I'm otherwise _engaged_". With that she walked away, still holding my hand and only let it drop when she got too far to hold on anymore. Walking backwards down the hill she called out "Until then, Seaweed Brain! I love you!"

I waved until she was out of sight and then whispered under my breath "I love you too."


	6. Melt away

**Chapter six – Melt away**

"You can stop laughing any time you want," I insisted, tugging on my sleeves and staring into the sea glass-encrusted mirror "Really. No pressure."

"Sorry!" said Nico, his gasps subsiding. He managed to raise himself onto one knee. "I just don't know what's funnier: you in a tux, Tyson in Godzilla's tux or Grover in a dress shirt and jacket wearing no pants!" He found himself rolling on the floor once again, clutching his stomach and shaking with laughter.

"Blah-ha-ha!" bleated my best man, "It's not as easy wearing trousers over fur as one might think. They chafe."

"Too much information, bro," I said, trying to manage my button holes, "but if you want to help, you can try and figure out what cufflinks do and how to use them correctly."

"Why?" asked Nico, flopping on my bed. "Because you think cufflinks might change the fact that your arms are seriously sapien? Dude, no one's arms are that long. It's like unnatural." I studied my arms in the mirror. OK, they were a little prominent but it's not like they were trailing on the floor or anything.

"Shut up," I decided was a good response, "we share DNA."

"Well then how come Tyson's arms are normal?" I glanced over at Tyson. Normal sounded sarcastic when you looked up at his huge hands, rough from working in the forges, and the single eye resting on his bulging forehead. His tongue was stuck out in concentration and he was fiddling with tiny scraps of metal.

"Whatcha got there, buddy?" I asked. Tyson grinned like a four-year-old presented with an ice lolly (cyclopses don't have quite the same brain capacity as humans do) and held forward a mangled silver... bow-tie. I was quite literally lost for words.

"Oh my gods. That is exquisite. Percy, you should wear that when you walk down the aisle!" exclaimed Nico, always happy to help. I glared at him and he smirked evilly.

"Um... I would love to but... Grover would get jealous."

"Mmph?" asked Grover, swallowing a mouthful of tin.

"I _said_ you would be jealous if I wore Tyson's bow-tie in the ceremony. _Right_, Grover?"

"Oh, yeah. Totally. Beside myself with envy. I guess you'll have to wear it yourself or I might... steal it" said Grover. I could tell he was trying hard not to burst out laughing. Nico wasn't even trying anymore.

"Kay!" yelled Tyson, crushing the carnation in his pocket as he hooked the scrap of metal into his first button hole. Easy to please. That's why I love him. Sadly, Daisy was not quite so easy to please. She was a sweet and calm girl in 'real life' but the wedding had turned her into some sort of multi-tasking force of evil. I was quickly reminded of this as she hammered on the cabin door. In all her kit and caboodle, she was pretty stunning. Not Annabeth stunning, but definitely second place.

"Hi, Percy," she said sweetly, "I was just wondering if you were ever going to get your _ass _down to the pavilion. You know, since all the guests are there and the ceremony starts in ten freaking minutes." Her smile was creeping me out a little, so I went for the obvious right answer.

"Yeah, sure. I think we're done anyway. Come on, guys!" I called behind me, signalling for them to follow me out.

"Super dee-duper!" called Daisy, her bright brown eyes shining scarily. I don't think I'd ever considered what a good serial killer she'd make. As she half-ran half-strutted back to cabin ten (she is an Aphrodite after all), Nico, Grover, Tyson and I made our way to the top of the hill.

The wedding was being held on top of Half-blood hill, with only the pavilion and the front row sticking out past the border line. That way our parents could come too, and we didn't have to worry about monsters because most gods would likely be in the first few rows too, and even monsters know not to mess with them. And Chiron was performing the ceremony. Apparently, he had been ordained by the state of New York a few hundred years ago. Just in case.

I skipped nervously to my position at the front, greeting a few people as I went. I asked Ares how his ankle was healing up (yes I know it was over a decade ago but it still gives me kicks), laughed at some joke Connor Stoll told I wasn't sure I hears right but, hey, I'm supportive. I had to bite my bottom lip to stop myself cracking up at Hera, Aphrodite and my mother, hugging each other with tears of joy streaming down their faces. Emilia stood at the ready, grinning in her floaty orange dress. When I finally got to where I was supposed to be, Chiron gave me a supportive smile.

"Are you ready, Mr. Jackson?" he asked as one eyebrow rose jokily. Subconsciously, I quoted Annabeth.

"I've single-handedly destroyed entire packs of hellhounds and turned the fearsomest furies to flour sacks. Lime green boxers are cute at best." Chiron looked somewhat confused but all was forgotten as Will raised his baton and the nine muses plus Sadie Sol (who rocked out on the electric lyre) began to play 'The Wedding March' and everyone rose from their seats.

First up over the hill was Noah, beaming and tossing pink and orange petals in the air. She met Emilia at the boundary, passed on the basket and moved to stand next to the wedding tent. To make up for not walking down the aisle, Emilia, holding her flower basket in her teeth, did a cartwheel along the front, leaving a perfect line of petals in her wake. She moved to stand between Noah and the pavilion, looking very pleased with herself indeed.

So absorbed with the commotion, the audience practically missed the arrival of the bridesmaids, carrying small bundles of orange carnations and dandelions apart from Thalia who had instead twisted daisies into her Hunters' coronet. They moved to stand behind the flower girls, Katie then Thalia then Daisy, and my heart started pumping ten tons of blood up round my head. I thought of everything Annabeth had said that afternoon and for about a second I thought of running away, starting a new life in the Florida Keys, getting eight goldfish and changing my name to Lemar.

Then Annabeth came over the hill and all that melted away.

Even from far away, I could see her big grey eyes flashing with excitement, anxiety, passion and a whole bunch of other stuff I completely ignored because my eyeballs were in a state of total shock. Her hair was French braided around her face then swept into a bun. Her dress was silky and flowed around her like she was walking through milk, with silver beads around the waist. Her lips were red and her cheeks rosy and I couldn't take my eyes off her. If there was ever a time to ponder this wasn't it, but I couldn't help but ask myself how it was I got quite so lucky.

At the front of the aisle, she passed her bouquet to Thalia and stood there facing me. I would have liked nothing better than to take her in my arms and kiss her then and there, take the none-too-bridal camp van down to the city and to our new apartment where we would live with our eight babies and goldfish named Lemar. Then Chiron said:

"Please be seated".

And all that melted away.

The ceremony started with the words 'dearly beloved'. In the middle there were vows. And at the end, Chiron told me "You may now kiss the bride". As we shared our first kiss as man and wife, Apollo drove right by. You could almost see him waving, taking credit for that perfect sunset. Of course, we couldn't see. We were still kissing. Deeply, insanely happy and in love.

_A.N. – Well there you go! Hope you enjoyed the wedding (sorry there wasn't very much of the actual ceremony but I've only been to two wedding and one was Native American and the other was completely in Polish. And my Polish is awful. So I really have no idea how weddings go). I just wanted to say in advance that I am going to France for two weeks with NO COMPUTER so I may just post a couple chapters when I get back. If you need any help visualising anything, there are some decent pictures on my profile. Enjoy your holiday!  
KrakenGirl xxx_


	7. On the road again

**Chapter seven – On the road again**

There's nothing like speeding along the highway in a European death-trap with a gorgeous blonde high on architecture at the wheel to _really_ say 'Welcome to Greece!' The honeymoon had been a total success so far. No big fights (because who am I to argue with Athens' number one fan? She probably knows all the best places to eat/shop/sightsee anyway), no big problems (did you know they give you a bigger room if you just got married? Annabeth did) and no big regrets. Except maybe letting Mrs. Jackson drive.

"OK, so..." she began, levering herself on one knee to look behind her, "does the 60 on the sign back there mean miles-per-hour or minutes we've been driving?"

"Um, first of all, how would a sign know how long we've been driving? Second, I would _really appreciate_ it if you sat down while driving!"

"Bossy," she mumbled, rolling her eyes and sitting back down.

"That's Mr. Bossy-Jackson to you, madam. Also, I don't know if you knew this but seventy-five miles-per-hour is actually both above sixty _and_ illegal. Ain't that a kicker?!"

"What are you so worried about?" she asked, totally not looking at the road. "It's not like you're gonna die." I snorted.

"Wanna bet? Five bucks say this car flips over and the stick shift impales me in the back." Now it was her turn to laugh. My gods, I loved that sound. "Plus, you could die. That would suck a lot," I reminded her.

"Honeymoon gone wrong. I can see the headlines now." Annabeth grabbed her latte from the cupholder while attempting to steer with her left elbow. "If only we had the kids to protect us, huh?" She smiled and winked at me and I returned the gesture, thinking back to the night of our wedding...

_As our song ended (no prizes for guessing which one), Annabeth and I made our way back to the top table. Not that we didn't enjoy swirling on a dance floor built for a hundred or so less people than were occupying it, but we're not much for dancing._

"_Are you ready Mrs. Jackson?" I asked cockily._

"_Little late now, isn't it?" she asked. "We're pretty much married."_

"_Yes, according to what I've heard the hard part is truly over," I complained sarcastically. She rolled her eyes._

"_Shut up," she whispered, leaning in for a kiss. I closed my eyes, but before we could get to the good part we were jarred by an interrupting cough._

"_If you two are quite finished?" Athena's look was somewhere between irate and amused, as if she couldn't make up her mind. Poseidon stood beside her, grinning messily. "Your immortal parents have taken the time to think up a suitable gift for this... unusual if well-catered event. Should you choose to accept these bestows, the time to do such would be now," she finished with a cold smile._

"_Do you have to talk like that? Seriously? All the time? What, do you have some sort of holier-than-thou complex?" asked Poseidon. Not wanting to seem disrespectful or cause World War 4, I asked Athena 'to which gifts the lady refereth to?' (Oh yeah, I can do brainy!)_

_After staring distastefully at my face for a while, she said "I assume you two will reproduce?" Now I know where Annabeth gets her talent for making me blush. Luckily, she came to my rescue._

"_We hadn't discussed it." The goddess gave a mirthless laugh._

"_Well, bearing in mind that we are in close league with the fates whom determine the outcome of the world, the... sea god and I have a proposition. Any child you two should sire would be protected by the strongest barriers knowledge and the ocean can uphold, valid within one hundred yards, all surrounding persons included. Do you accept this offer?"_

_I looked to Annabeth then nodded slowly._

"_Excellent!" she smiled again, and this time she seemed genuinely pleased._

"_Percy," acknowledged my father, and together they walked up to the peak of the hill, before disappearing from sight._

Four days later, I still couldn't work out why we'd said yes. Probably to avoid angering anymore undying in-laws than necessary. At least that's what I told myself. Until now. I turned to my beautiful bride who was frowning sweetly with the effort of not driving like a maniac. She saw me looking and smiled.

"What?" she asked. "What are you thinking?"

"Just that..." What to say next? I think I might want kids? I want to go back to the hotel and watch Barney the dinosaur? Pre-natal vitamins are wonderful for your hair and nails? "I love you," I filled in weakly. "Marry me?"

"Little late now, isn't it?" she asked and we smiled at each other as we drove beneath the famous olive trees of Athens. Annabeth blinked once, slowly, and I kissed her gently on the lips.

"Eyes on the road," I teased, and she bumped me with her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't die. I gotcha," and with a whoop, we were off again, pushing eighty for miles to go.


	8. Suit yourself

**Chapter 8 – Suit yourself**

The clock on the nightstand read 21:04. Annabeth slumped out of the bathroom and crawled into bed. With a jolt, I realised she was pale, shaky and cold.

"Again?" I asked. She nodded. "I thought you were going to the doctor this morning?"

"I was. I mean, I was supposed to. But we were closing the deal with the Walker estate contractors and I couldn't blow it all at the last minute by not showing up..." Annabeth glanced sideways to see if I was buying it. Nope.

"That's bologna, you said yourself the deal won't close for eight or nine months because of all the health and safety issues."

"Well, someone's been a good little listener, haven't they?" she smirked, her eyes lighting up timidly. _Those eyes... focus, Percy!_

"Why won't you go to the doctor, Annabeth?" She pouted and flipped onto her back.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to. I'll go tomorrow."

"Do you pinky promise?"

"What are you, a third grader?! I fricking pinky promise! Now go to bed." I grinned, pleased to have won the argument.

"Suit yourself," I whispered, turning off the table lamp. Annabeth stayed sullenly quiet. "What? No goodnight kiss?" She turned her head to face me, that 'fall off a cliff, please' look piercing my bulletproof skin. "Suit yourself," I mumbled again and sank into the deep trench of sweet dreams.

* * *

The clock on the nightstand read 21:27. Annabeth sat in bed, poring over 'The Robber Bride'. Her hair was wet and down the way I like it, water streaming down her silky purple camisole. I slid in beside her and ran my hands through it, absorbing the moisture through my palms. Annabeth gave a sad smile and rubbed her eyes beneath her reading glasses.

"You know what I was thinking?" I asked, lying back on the pillows and playing with the ends of her hair. "We should have Grover and Juniper round for dinner. Would that work? I mean, I know she's a plant but if we grew some juniper in the kitchen maybe she could come."

Annabeth thought for a moment. "I don't know. I mean, it may have to be the exact same plant – I'm pregnant – in which case we would need to take a crosscutting and re-pot it somewhere here."

"Yeah. I guess we could get Katie... wait, what?!"

"Crosscutting? It's when you take –"

"Not that! Are... did we... are you having a baby?" My eyes practically popped out of my head and frisk-searched her belly. Annabeth sighed, threw down her book and removed her glasses.

"Stop looking, I'm not showing yet."

"But you will? At some point? Have a bump? And then a baby? Like a real one with... arms and legs and stuff?"

"I hope it has stuff. I _really _hope it has arms and legs. But are you... OK with all this? I mean, I'm...," she finally cracked a smile, "I'm having a baby!"

"Hell yeah, you are! You're having a baby! I'm having a baby!" In one move I jumped from under the covers to on top of them. "We're having a baby! We have to call everyone we know! And everyone we don't know! And the newspapers! And the... the fish!"

"The fish? Why are we calling the fish?"

"Because they are like family to me! Not real family of course. That's just you." I looked down at her tummy. "And you. Percy junior." Annabeth scoffed.

"Ha! I think you mean Annabeth junior!"

"Oh, no! We are having a boy! Wait... do you know yet?"

"I'm only a month along. It probably still looks like used gum."

"So the honeymoon..."

"Mm." I clambered back down and sat, holding my wife's hand and staring into the future. The world's first quarter-blood... or something like that. What if our kid was all messed up like us? Do we tell the thing it ought to be messed up? What if we were bad parents? What if it was aquaphobic? No, that would be unacceptable.

"Annabeth?"

"Yes."

"When they rub goo on your belly and show you the its feet... can I come?" I said it so wistfully, Annabeth's gaze softened and she turned to cup my face with her unoccupied hand.

"Suit yourself," she whispered and kissed me on the forehead before sliding down beneath the duvet, then jumping out again and running to the bathroom.

Pretty soon, Annabeth and I were tucked back up and ready for sleep. "Night, baby," I told her face. "Night, baby," I told her belly. As she slipped slowly down to the deep trench of sweet dreams, I whispered, "Percy junior."

"As if."

* * *

_A.N. – Hello again. Sorry if my updating has been a bit maniacal but unfortunately I am back at school. Seven and a half hours of brain-ache. Joy. Anyway, France was amazing and Lisa and I danced like total idiots to Taylor Swift quite a bit which was nice. Then I went on a school trip to Germany which, needless to say, was less nice. I also have a few other good story ideas in mind so could someone please let me know if I should finish this story and then do those or have three stories going at once. Squirgle,_

_KrakenGirl xxx_


	9. Mistery

**Chapter nine – Mistery**

"Mrs. Jackson? I'm going to need you to take your clothes off for me."

Usually this sentence would make feel uncomfortable, especially since it was delivered by a middle-aged British woman but there was a good reason for it. Today was Annabeth's eight week ultrasound and I was with at the clinic, trying to ignore the graphic pictures on the walls and the irony of the fact that St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital had the best pregnancy facilities in all of New York. State.

"Are you scared?" I asked. Perhaps not the most tactful approach, but I needed to know how much I was over- or under-reacting.

Annabeth paused to think. "Um... no. I'd say almost definitely not. I mean, from what I've heard it's not that scary it just looks kind of squishy."

"I didn't mean it like 'are you scared of the baby?' I meant it like 'are you scared about having a baby?'"

"Probably almost two-thirds not. Why are you asking anyway? We've got time."

"Yeah. No, of course we have time. I just thought... you know... all the leaflets say you have to _mentally_ prepare yourself for a baby," I said, picking up a random leaflet to emphasise my point. "OK, not this one, this one's about... ew! Is that an actual uterus?!"

"Baby, stay focussed."

"Oh, right. Well we have time. It doesn't really matter. I was just thinking."

"Well done."

"Thanks."

Once Annabeth had changed into the stunningly sterilealbeit slightly crispy shirt-gown and draped the matching 'blanket' over her legs, Dr Bellamy came back with what looked like a long toothpaste tube. "You're only about eight weeks so your due date will probably be sometime in early May, but this will tell us for sure. Now this might be a little cold," she warned, before squirting the contents onto my wife's belly.

"Holy mother of Kronos!" she shrieked, jumping and banging her head on the fixed lamp.

"Cold?" I asked.

"Just a tad," she grumbled, rubbing her head and glaring murderously at the offending goo. Dr Bellamy pushed her rather roughly back into the seat and began using some sort of baton hooked up to a monitor to spread the gunk evenly over the baby area.

"OK," she began, in a way that made you sure she'd said it a thousand times, "if you look here the picture should start to... oh." Well, maybe only a hundred times. "Dear me, that is strange..." Ten times at least. "I can't seem to get any picture whatsoever!" So we were unique. Wouldn't be the first time.

"What's wrong?" asked Annabeth, giving away no sign of fear at all but for the frantic flicking of her fingers.

"I don't understand! I've been in this job thirty years and I've never had _no_ baby!"

"So... she's not pregnant?" I asked.

"No, no, she's definitely pregnant, there are two heartbeats there. And that's the outline of her womb there. I'm calling for back-up."

"Hello? I'm right here!" screamed Annabeth. She struggled to sit up but Dr Bellamy pushed her back down again. "It's my baby... or not... just let me see!" Again her attempts were thwarted.

"There's nothing _to_ see," I patiently explained.

"It looks like there's something just... blocking our view. Like there's something swirling around in there like some kind of... mist."

You know those eureka moments where everything finally makes sense? I _can_ stick my tongue out andwink at the same time. _E_ _does_ equal mc². _That's _why people with irregular numbers of eyes have been chasing me my whole life. In that one moment Annabeth and I both turned to each other at the same time and mouthed 'Mist'.

It took ages to clear up. Annabeth had to bend the Mist a bit to convince the ultrasound technician that circumfoetal hydric build-up was a rare hereditary disorder that prevents the use of ultrasound technology on unborn babies. Then she had to call her Mrs. Chase ('Did I say step-mother? I meant mother. As in she was pregnant with me. Yeah.') to confirm that she had had it too when she was 'pregnant' with Annabeth. Then we had to call her again from the cab to apologise for putting her on the spot like that and thanking her for being such a good liar. Then Annabeth spent a good hour and a half trying to get the last of the slime off. By the time we got to bed it was late, and we were tired.

"So I guess that's are last sonogram," I offered.

"Yeah," she conceded, "I guess so. But how will we know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"We won't."

"Or if it has any recognisable disabilities?"

"We won't."

"Or if it's breech?"

"Annabeth, we won't. One day you'll go into labour, we'll go back there and you'll squirt the thing out. And I'll be right there holding your hand. And you'll probably crush it but that's OK. Because at the end we will have a beautiful baby and love it so so much," I soothed, stroking her hair all the while. "We've got time. Save the worrying for later down the line, OK?"

"OK," she mumbled, snuffling into my chest. I turned out the light, humming a few bars of 'Sparkle and Shine' before I sank down into sleep.


	10. X

**Chapter ten – x**

"What do you think?"

"Why are you wearing a tent?" Tactful, I know. Annabeth was currently showing off the best Bloomies' maternity section had to offer. Needless to say, I've seen more flattering prints on vintage tapestries. Annabeth groaned and flopped backwards onto the bed.

"Well, I suppose there's no way of hiding it any longer. I am officially showing."

"You're eight months pregnant! If you weren't showing I'd be worried! You've just chosen to accept it now because you can't hide the bulge any longer; and shouldn't you be on maternity leave by now anyway?"

"You know, what with my raging hormones and all, you should be more careful about what you say to me. My thighs are so giant by now they could crack your invincible skull. And maternity leave is for losers who think sitting on their preggo behinds all day and knitting impossibly tiny socks is more exciting than the Walker contract I have a meeting for in, oh, twelve hours." Annabeth struggled into sitting position and grabbed her belly for moral support. "Do we have any soy sauce?" she asked, twirling her hair and looking like a heavily weighted angel. I sighed. Her cravings had been getting progressively weirder. What had started off as an abnormal fondness for pickles had now bloomed into its full peculiarity.

"Might I ask why?"

"I would _so_ like to pour some over a huge piece of chocolate cake right now. Yum... and maybe top it with a couple slices of orange? Oh, and some pine nuts!" You see?

"We're out of pine nuts. You used them all up in that weird broccoli and salmon thing Nico deemed 'an insult to several innocent foods'."

"Shame. How is Nico?" she asked, inking the blueprint for a skyscraper on her ankle.

"Alright, I think. Last I heard he and Aura were getting cosy."

"What kind of cosy?"

"You don't want to know." Annabeth nodded, whether in agreement or satisfaction at the artwork spanning her foot I couldn't say, but she subsequently rolled with a grunt off the bed.

"Right, help me out of this tent. I have to be well rested for tomorrow. When's the baby due again?" This is the girl, sorry _woman_, who can remember the exact dates to every historical event basically ever and she has no idea when her baby is going to be born. There was, of course, the chance that she was only feigning lack of knowledge to punish me for calling her dress a tent.

"The twenty-second of May. Exactly fifty-four years and six months after JFK got shot." The best thing about having known Annabeth this long is that now I _know_ if I link the date with one of historical importance it will be ingrained in her memory forevermore; and she'll be instantly impressed by my historical knowledge so everyone's a winner!

Annabeth did seem rather impressed as she slipped (or rather squeezed) on her pyjamas and balanced herself on two pillows. It was something to do with feet and oxygen but to be honest it didn't bother me. All I knew was that the most gorgeous woman in the universe was squiggled up beside me and she smelt like buttercream and she was carrying my child and, frankly, it doesn't get much better than that.

"I love you. You know that, right?"

"Seaweed Brain," she replied smiling, kissed me and fell asleep.

~*~

The next afternoon I sat at my desk, not really concentrating on the applications I was assessing, when my phone started pulsating violently. Some may have been overwhelmed by this irregular display of undulation but, being the incredible academic that I am, it only took me about seven minutes to work out that I had received a text message.

_In labour. In meeting. Can you pick me up at four? Beth x_

I groaned and slammed my head down on the desk (ow), cursing the Walker estate contractors in my very best Ancient Greek. Four was three hours away. People have babies in less than three hours; and I was just supposed to go about my life, assessing applications and eating food and writing stuff about dolphins, while Annabeth sat in a meeting and our baby slowly squirmed into the world? I grabbed my coat and car keys and ran to the office door.

"And just where do you think you're going?" asked my irate colleague Harris. I tried to say something but it appeared as though I had forgotten how to speak in full sentences.

"I... Annabeth... baby... Walker... blurg?" Harris sighed.

"Go on then."

"Thank you!" I shouted as I practically flew out the door and into the car. I revved the engine and zoomed at Annabeth-worthy speeds to Annabeth's swanky office building, parking haphazardly in a Monday-Friday bay. What day of the week was it? Aw, screw it. From my vantage point across the street, I could see right into the window of the board room. Annabeth was standing over the desk marking a blueprint with an orange pen and explaining something clever to the contractors who nodded like those dolls you get of presidents and baseball players and stuff. _She has pretty hair_... no, snap out of it! I grabbed my phone (lucky I was within one hundred yards of her and Percy Junior) and sent an urgent message.

_I'm outside your office. Leave now or suffer the consequences of a freak anxiety earthquake. And for gods' sakes HURRY! SB x_

I watched from the window as she picked up her phone, frowned, shook her head and replaced the phone in her pocket. Excuse me?! Did she think I was bluffing about the whole earthquake thing? I was partially serious! I started to wonder if she'd ever leave when suddenly Annabeth stopped mid-sentence, grabbed her stomach and bit down on her lip.

Idiot genius girl! She was obviously in pain she just wouldn't leave her stupid meeting, work-orientated perfectionist that she is. Annabeth swiftly recovered and continued her train of thought. She paused, thinking for a bit. Then, as if set on fast-forward, she finished marking up the blueprint, talking all the while, shoved a stack of papers in a rather shocked gentleman's lap, shook hands with another and raced out the room. My phone vibrated.

_Here I come! x_

* * *

_A.N. - Dear lovely readers, I am so sorry I have been so long away. School is the bane of my existance. Incidently, my English teacher told me recently that bane means poison in Middle English so maybe not everything in school is bad. Physics is awful. My sister Darcy who is dribbling on me right now would also like to say hello. But anyway, what I meant to say was thank you for reading and reviewing and subscribing and favouriting and all the wonderful things you wonderful people do. If you do have something to say, please review. I want to get as much feedback as possible (but don't feel pressured or anything). I am sorry to report that this is the second-to-last chapter of this story. Don't worry though, I have amazing ideas for the future. With love,  
KrakenGirl xxx_


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